Help Please - Having Trouble Moving Air From Basement...

[solotripper]

Hi everyone, first post here. Looks like a great site and i'm looking forward to learning. I've just installed a Flame XVR-1 SE Stove good, rated for around 1800 square feet. I've installed it in my basement, approximately in the middle. My house is small, roughly 800 square feet. The basement gets toasty pretty quick, however, I am having a lot of trouble getting that air moving up into the main floor living area.

I have cut 3 holes in my main floor which has helped a little, but with the winter coming and 3 solid months of -20 degree weather (live in Northwestern Ontario, Canada), I'm going to have trouble if I can't figure it out.

I have the basement door open and yes, after a few hours the heat begins to migrate up the stairwell, but still not nearly enough.

Has anyone gone through a similar experience and have any pointers as to how I can get this heat up better without cutting out more and larger holes in my floor?

 

[shawneyboy]

Is the basement insulated, or is it unfinished? If unfinished you lose a TON of heat to the walls.

Assuming it is a finished and insulated space, take a box fan, place it at the bottom of the steps to pull the cool air down, when you do this, the warm air rises and takes it place. Some have used 2 fans, one on the top and one on the bottom of the stairway, both blowing down the stairs, but for me, one at the bottom does the trick. Cold air is denser than warm, and easier to move with a fan, than it would be trying to blow the warm air up.

As far as the holes in the floors, be sure to have a register that closes if you were to have a fire in the house. I forget the exact name of them, someone here will chime in shortly.

The holes in the floor do NOT let warm air up, they actually let the cool air down, they operate like a cold air return. Again since cool air is more dense than warm.


Shawn

 

[solotripper]

The basement is not finished, masonry block walls. The basement reads between 84-88 degrees after only a few hours of stove operation so it's super warm...just having issues with pushing that air up.

I'll give the fans a try. Any other ideas?

 

[shawneyboy]

Your walls are a GIGANTIC heat sink. I understand the air temp is toasty, but you are losing a ton of heat to those walls, maybe as much as or more than 25% of the heat the stove puts out. I know there was a page with this info I just can't find it.

Shawn

 

[tcassavaugh]

i've found that in time, the whole house heats up when the stove is in the basement. it takes awahile and if you can keep it going, thats the key to keeping my house warm. i also noted that the blower on the stove i have now helps circulate the air better. i've tried the box fan at the stairs, corner fans in the doorways or along the hallways, box fan behind the stove with no real increase in heat movement. However, i think that if you can order a fan kit for the stove, it will certainly help. i've stopped using everything but the stove fan/blower because they didn't do much over natural convection aided by the blower.

Wondering.....is the basement below grade or above ground. would think that mostly below grade wouldn't be as bad with heat loss even if it was unfinished.
cass

 

[shawneyboy]

BTW welcome to the forum. Good group here. Any questions you have fire away.

+1 on the blower, it makes a difference to me and my house. I also have a lower level install.

Shawn

 

[shawneyboy]

Read this

http://www.woodstove.com/pages/guidepdfs/BasementInstall.pdf

Shawn

 

[solotripper]

I have the fan on order from the manufacturer. Only 3 feet of my basement walls are above ground, but come mid-February, that ground is frozen solid!

Would you folks recommend that I cut more holes in my floor? I do have a forced air oil furnace...any way to just run the fan on that and get the hot air from the basement blowing through the duct work?

 

[HotCoals]

Do you have a forced air furnace?
If so try taking the blower door off and run just the fan to see what that does.

 

[bubba3228]

I have been running the blower motor only on my forced air furnace that is located in the basement to keep the air circulating through the whole house.

 

[HotCoals]

I have been running the blower motor only on my forced air furnace that is located in the basement to keep the air circulating through the whole house.

It works for some.
If you take the door off it will mostly suck from the basement then.
When I had a old farm house the basement would stay really cool..so on really hot days I would take the door off the furance ..where the filter is and let it move that air upstairs..poor mans a/c..lol.

 

[tcassavaugh]

interesting post on the basement install...thanks. when i finished the basement i made sure i made interior walls with insulation. didn't realize that so much was lost even below ground.

cass

 

[tcassavaugh]

Do you have a forced air furnace?
If so try taking the blower door off and run just the fan to see what that does.

i know some have put a hood over their stove and connected it to their duct work and put a squirrl cage/blower to push it through the house. my setup wasn't pre planned for that nor am i that much of a handyman.

cass

 

[solotripper]

I can try taking the door off the furnace and running the fan. I was thinking of closing off the cold air returns upstairs and cutting a whole in them downstairs to let the furnace suck up only the warm air and blow it through the vents...perhaps just opening the door will be a better option?

 

[DexterDay]

A fusible link damper is needed in floor vents. They sell them online. Little costly. But in the event of a fire. They close at the set temp. A standard hole in your floor may be a code violation and in the event of a fire your homeowners Ins may not cover it.

+2 On the blowing cold air down the steps. Small fan works fine. I am using a 12" round fan made by Lasko. The concrete and block are sucking up a lot of heat. I am heating from the basement with the woodstove. But also have the pellet stoves to back me up. Below 30 and the woodstove is not enough for the 800 sq downstairs room and 2,180 sq upstairs.

 

[wkpoor]

I heat from the basement up. It takes about 2 days of solid burning keeping the stove hot before the 2nd and 3rd floor begins to rise. I took off the basement door cause it needs to be open 24/7 anyway. I haven't installed it but I have a 2' square register made of cast iron I'm thinking of installing. I know small holes won't do anything.

 

[HotCoals]

I can try taking the door off the furnace and running the fan. I was thinking of closing off the cold air returns upstairs and cutting a whole in them downstairs to let the furnace suck up only the warm air and blow it through the vents...perhaps just opening the door will be a better option?

Just take the door of the furnace where the filter is and try that.

 

[Jackfre]

I'd suggest you check www.tjernlund.com for the Airshare product.

 

[wkpoor]

I can try taking the door off the furnace and running the fan. I was thinking of closing off the cold air returns upstairs and cutting a whole in them downstairs to let the furnace suck up only the warm air and blow it through the vents...perhaps just opening the door will be a better option?

Just take the door of the furnace where the filter is and try that.

I couldn't get my furnace blower to help at all. Might work for others though.

 

[DexterDay]

I can try taking the door off the furnace and running the fan. I was thinking of closing off the cold air returns upstairs and cutting a whole in them downstairs to let the furnace suck up only the warm air and blow it through the vents...perhaps just opening the door will be a better option?

Just take the door of the furnace where the filter is and try that.

I couldn't get my furnace blower to help at all. Might work for others though.

Me too.... The cold ducts cool the air to much. It will cool the warm room the stove is in. But wont really help the cold rooms. That was my experience also. Not very efficient at all. I have insulated ducts from the furnace to the main runs to the small runs that come off the main. All insulatdled.

 

[Dune]

The basement is not finished, masonry block walls. The basement reads between 84-88 degrees after only a few hours of stove operation so it's super warm...just having issues with pushing that air up.

I'll give the fans a try. Any other ideas?

Pretty sure if you average your basement temp with the rest of the house, you will see there is not nearly enough heat left over to heat the house, and it is not even cold yet.

Shawn is right on, it you want this to work well, insulate your basement walls.

If you want it to work poorly, and use a lot of extra wood, keep doing what you are doing.

 

[solotripper]

Unfortunately, insulating my basement walls is not possible at the moment. I have to work with what I have.

 

[Dune]

Unfortunately, insulating my basement walls is not possible at the moment. I have to work with what I have.

Is there any possibility of installing the stove upstairs?

 

[BrowningBAR]

Unfortunately, insulating my basement walls is not possible at the moment. I have to work with what I have.

Is there any possibility of installing the stove upstairs?

+1

This is the only solution where you will get the heat you are hoping for. Or swap out the stove with a much larger stove and have the basement at 95 degrees and the rest of the house close to comfortable.

 

[DexterDay]

It eouldnt look pretty. But if you could just get some thin styrafoam (spelling/not even close) and line the walls (1/2" or so).

My woodstove is in the only part of the basement thats unfinished (800 sq out of about 2,200) I plan on finishing it this Winter (my inside Winter project) but until then, I had my Uncle (works for uniform company) get me a bunch of 3' x 12' mats (rubber bottom/carpet top) and threw them out on the floor. Only got about half of the floor done. Bit made a big difference just doing that little bit. Granted not everyone can have access to something like that. But if you could find some old carpet or go to a carpet Manuf and see about there rejected rolls. My works buys a ton of that stuff. Huge rolls of nice carpet that has a small defect, at a super discounted price. Just doing the floor will jelp a lot. Just a thought.